Does anyone else have chicken nugget obsessed kids? My children love chicken nuggets and would pretty much eat them every day of the week given a chance. So in an attempt to get them eating a healthier and more vegetable-packed alternative, I’ve been working on my own recipe for these Lentil & Veggie Nuggets.

Lots of veggie nugget recipes out there are made with mashed potato but I decided to use red lentils instead as the base as they provide a lot more nutrition. Red lentils are an excellent source of dietary fibre and are also a really good source of iron, protein and some B Vitamins.

To the lentils and vegetables, I also added some breadcrumbs to help bind everything together (bread can be gluten free if you like) and also some grated cheddar cheese for extra flavour.

The mixture makes about 15 largish nuggets (or more if you make them smaller). If you don’t want to cook them all at once you can freeze them on a plate or tray in a single layer and then transfer to a sealed freezer bag. Then cook them from frozen, adding an extra 5 minutes or so to the cooking time.

I now always have a batch of these nuggets in the freezer on hand for busy days. They make a great lunch served with some chopped carrot, cucumber and peppers on the side. Or for dinner they taste delicious with some homemade potato wedges and peas. Yum!

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Comments

Have a fussy 2 year old who will dodge many types of veg but these were scoffed down! I used carrot and sweede blended up and a pinch of salt, left out the peas as he detects them even when hidden! Amazing, finally got him to eat a meal that isn’t a cheese sandwich 👍

These turned out pretty well but mine don’t have a lot of flavor …I’m wondering if I didn’t have the appropriate herbs in there bc I wasn’t sure what exactly you used. Any suggestions on how I can make it less bland? Thank you for the recipe!

Thank you – really enjoying trying a few new recipes with kids at the moment. Weidly, the fussy one ate these and the normally easy one didn’t. Oh well. They were too crumbly so I added an egg, but I didn’t have time to pre soak the lentils as instructed so that might have had something to do with it!!

I just made these for the first time and they were fantastic! I had to make a few modifications, as I was just working with what I had at home already. I didn’t have a zucchini so I used an extra carrot instead. I also used canned brown lentils, as that is what I happened to have. I drained the lentils well and poured them onto a plate with some paper towels to soak up the excess moisture. I also only had frozen rye bread, and the slices are smaller so I defrosted 4 slices instead of 2. My food processor is packed, as my family is in the middle of moving, so I used my magic bullet instead. It worked, but it was a challenge. My final adaptation was adding a lot of extra spices, after reading in some of the comments that they weren’t very flavorful. My kids are used to a lot of flavour, so I used a pinch each of garlic salt, onion powder, paprika, cumin, chili powder, oregano, basil, and black pepper. They were delicious! My 15 year old son, who is afraid of the word “vegetarian” said that he would definitely eat them again. My 4 year old son also liked them. I’ll double the recipe next time. Thanks for posting this recipe!

This recipe was a fantastic inspiration. I am a grown woman that is a very fussy eater, so these looked like a great idea. I modified the recipe, building on your initial idea, adding brown basmati rice and a bit of falafel mix, then stick blending it. I left out the zucchini, but spiced it up with some chaat masala mix, salt and black pepper. We baked them off and made a sour cream dip with dill and other herbs and it was so good! My 6 year old also chomped them down. Next time, we’ll add in some heavy veggies, like chopped kale and mustard greens and some hot chilis, too. We’d also like to try them as patties for veggie burgers as they seem to hold together really well. Thanks again for the inspiration, or it would have been another night of me complaining and/or ordering a pizza!

So glad I came across this receipe! My 2 year old son is going through a stage where he is refusing EVERYTHING at meal times. It’s utterly frustrating and disappointing. I was a bit skeptical about these but literally willing to try anything that will get some nutrition into him and to my surprise HE LOVED THEM!!!!
They are incredibly nutritious as well. Thanks for the great receipe. 🙂

I made these a few days ago using chopped up steamed broccoli and cauliflower instead of peas and corn. I was looking for a veggie dish for my 2 year old granddaughters as well as my husband, who also thinks eating veggies is a chore. These came together nicely. I was afraid they would not hold together well but they were just fine; cooling to firmness was not even needed. We did not really care too much for the taste of the red lentils. The nuggets had a vaguely ‘grassy’ taste. I do not know if it is because of the age of my lentils or because they aren’t really cooked. The taste sort of grew on me after eating a few of them and a drizzle of blue cheese or ranch dressing enhanced the flavor. I also thought they were OK the next day cold.

I will probably make this again and experiment with different lentils, perhaps cooking them a little.

Wow tried these today and they were great. Very little flavour, but that’s good when it comes to kids (who will be trying them later tonight). Texture was surprising considering they were oven baked- crisped up really nicely on the outside and moist on the inside. I had them with tomato sauce, but partner preferred a sriracha mayo. If I hadn’t have cooked them I never would have known what was in them – no taste or texture of lentils or veges. I was worried at first that my mixture seemed grainy (thought maybe I hadn’t soaked my lentils properly) but all worked out fine once cooked. Thanks for the recipe. Fingers crossed they are a hit with the kids

These look yummy! I’m going to try them today. I want my son to eat more egg, and I thought I could add one to this recipe. What do you think, would that turn out ok? Would I need to add more bulk like lentils and/or breadcrumbs to prevent them being sloppy? Thanks so much!

The only substitution I made for this recipe was to omit the corn and peas and replace them with grated cauliflower, adding it to the food processor with the other veggies. I really enjoyed them, my kids weren’t fond of them this time, but (shockingly!) my husband LOVED them…so it looks like the kiddos will have many, many opportunities to try them in the future! Thanks for this tasty and simple recipe!

My little half vegan loved these!!! Highly recommend, the flavor is amazing and so easy to make. Thank you! Our little 16 month old is allergic to dairy, nuts, eggs & tree nuts. We just used dairy free cheese. Question what happens if you over blend? I definitely over blended they still came out OK just a little bit more like bricks and I’m wondering if that’s why?

Hi Ashley, if they still came out ok then thats fine. Sometimes if you over-blend things in the food processor they become too mushy and won’t hold their shape but if they still worked then thats fine!

These are awesome!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am to have found a veggie nugget recipe my whole family loved (I have tried several others with less than stellar reviews)…I made them for dinner tonight and my husband and kids adored them and said I am making these at least once a week 🙂 I am delighted to do so, especially knowing I can make them ahead and freeze. Thanks so much for sharing these!!!!!

I made these today and my family LOVED them! We’re big on flavour so I added green onion and 3 cloves of garlic. My 3 and 4 year old devoured them, and my husband was still sneaking them off the tray hours after dinner! Thank you so much, this recipe is a keeper!

I forgot to turn them…oops! And I don’t have a food processor so I had to use my blender. It took forever to blend! Used broccoli since I’ve never even heard of courgette. Haha! Oh yes and I cooked the lentils so after blending, the lentils turned to mush. After all of my mistakes, baby girl still loves them! Thanks for this vegan option. It’s perfect!

Lentils are also a great source of folate; so this seems like a great recipe for pregnant women who might not want to cook all the time (or need an easy midnight snack) when prepared and frozen ahead of time. Just a question about the “turning,” though. Do you mean to turn the tray in case our oven cooks unevenly? Or do you mean to turn over (flip) each nugget? Thanks for the recipe. Sounds delicious, and I’ll have to try it as soon as I get some zucchini

I know this is an older post but hope someone can help. Hoping to make this for my kiddos but one is lactose intolerant. Can I just miss out the cheese or would I have to substitute it with something else?
????

I tried them out today (I flavored them with Mrs. Dash seasoning) and made 28 smallish nuggets. I froze half of them and baked the rest.

They were really very delicious. The kids liked them so I’m looking forward to making them again, but I think they came out a bit dry.

I looked again and it would appear that your lentils were cut up in to much finer pieces than mine. I’ll run them in the food processor longer next time, and hopefully that will make the texture less… crunchy lol!

My 3.5 year old is really fussy about vegetables. I tried a creamy lentil curry but she wouldn’t go for it. These were a complete hit! Thank you Ciara! Very easy but Preparation time is much longer than 10mins though (excl soaking the lentils) but I will definitely do a big batch and freeze.

Do we not cook the lentils first? I see where it says to soak them, and subsequently drain them, but I don’t see any instructions saying that they need to be cooked. Won’t they be hard?
Sorry if this seems like a stupid question, I’m new to working with lentils.
Thanks!

Really tasty, easy to make, moreish little nuggets. Perfect if you’re looking for a break from using onion, garlic or tomatoe for flavouring. My son has taken one of of left overs to school in his lunch box today. Went down well with all the family. Great for snack food or in a main meal. Thank you.